Meet The Indian ‘Chai Walli’ Uppma Virdi, Who Became Australia’s Businesswoman Of The Year

Uppma Virdi popularly known as the “Chai Walli” was recently honored with Australia’s Businesswoman of the Year. A 26-year-old Uppma is an Indian-Australian lawyer who started her own company named “Chai Walli” to serve quality tea to those Indians who settled in Australia.

In just two years, her tea stall gained a huge following and eventually, she became Australia’s Businesswoman of the year 2016.

Uppma recalled how her grandfather, an Ayurveda doctor taught her the incredible art of making good herbal tea. Uppma started her Chai Walli while doing her day job at a law firm.

“Wherever I go, I make tea. My parents’ number one request is ‘Uppma, make some tea.’ When my brother got married, I think I would have made a thousand cups of tea for all the guests. Even when I went overseas to Austria on a scholarship, I used to make tea for everyone. It was a way of bringing people together.” she said.

There is also Uppma’s online store where she sells a variety of tea and related products like candles, tea kettles, strainers and also chocolates made of tea. She is also into cooking classes teaching her followers how to make various kinds of aromatic tea.

Born in Chandigarh, she is one of the invitees at the Melbourne Tea festival which was organized earlier. She says her motive is to spread the art of tea making to the entire world.